the view from laundry day: personal progression, part 1

being the story of my journey in laundry land.

in the beginning

when i first visited acorn community in the spring of 2007, i got to see an example of more sustainable clothes-washing. folks wearing personally-owned clothing had to wash it themselves, but those wearing community-owned clothing ('commie clothes') and those with dirty sheets, towels, linens, etc got to toss their various fabrics into the communal basket to be washed by whoever signed up for laundry that week. before this experience, i had always used a washing machine and normal dryer, although i knew from my mother that washers could run on a lower amount of water than you'd expect, and that running the shorter cycle saved time and energy.

groovy detergents

the washer was often run on a lower water setting than was typical, and the detergent used was always seventh generation brand. typical laundry detergents have creepy chemicals that stick to your clothes and your skin even after they come out of the dryer, and their chemical scents are too much for me personally. hop over to www.ewg.org if you want to learn more about typical laundry detergents.

line drying - an experience in environmental awareness

so anyway - they used groovy detergent, and less water, and hung their things out to dry on a series of several clotheslines winding out amongst the trees behind the laundry room. while interning at acorn i discovered that i Love hanging out laundry. it is so satisfying, and simple, brings such an easy appreciation for the weather and the sky and the state of the world around me. even in less friendly weather i love it. it makes me feel like i'm in an old, old picture - an older world.

what was the next step from there? well, i lived in various places for a while... i strung a line out on the abandoned laundry posts in my mother's backyard and hung my clothes there for a while. over the winter i hung my clothes on a drying rack in the furnace/laundry room of the natural builder i was interning with.

dreaming up the next step

the next year, while living at acorn, i remembered an old glass washboard lying around (not old, actually, they purchased it from lehman's a few years before i arrived - but old fashioned, certainly) and pondered the idea of washing my clothes by hand.

that fall i visited _______ ecovillage and ______ farms, and got to see folks using washing machines that ran on solar power, old school hand crank washing machines, and even older washtub-agitator-wringer setups. over that winter i lived in the city and used a normal washing machine and dryer with growing suspicion.

the 'stuff to post about' list:

-herb harvesting/infusions/use of fresh herbs/tinctures

-making pants/making clothing

-growing herbs in the garden

-growing veggies, garden details

-my work vs. hogwarts

-burn salve

-scarification

-the view from laundry day

-awesome natural builder blogs

-the search for land/money/building credit

-dental health/sustainable toothcare

-sustainable clothes washing

-sustainable home/dishes/cleaning

-shampoo/deodorant/wipes/etc
-embroidering project (jeans)

-recent crafts - stamps, giraffe puppet, clothespin bag

-newsletters